Finally, something for me to get excited about in this slow start to winter.  Our group of 16 this year just locked down this swanky Keystone Mountain home for our trip.

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p308434

Now I have something else to distract me instead of watching rain and fog on my Snowshoe camera.

I am insanely jealous.  The older I get the less my friends want to do things like this.  I guess that means we are all transitioning from the disposable income stage in life to the kids and home ownership are too dang expensive to have fun stage.

Looks good.  Keystone gets a bad rap for lame terrain and low snow.  Have you been there?  Everything is relative.  At that stage of season everywhere should have good to excellent snow in CO.  I skied it about seven days last March.  It’s a really fun place in spring conditions.  Many fine int-adv runs on all three mtns, the ones on the front mtn (Dercum) are particularly long and have ~2300’ vertical.  Really huge terrain park area.  The two gondolas make for comfortable riding on chilly/windy/snowy days.  I would suspect it’s a short (one mile?) free shuttle from your house to a lift, but also I always found it easy to get free parking there at River Run base, although it’s a pretty long walk to the lifts (0.5 mile).  Look for free wagons in lot to haul your ski gear to lifts and back.  If someone is dropping you off you can get much closer by unloading over near the rental equipment Quonset hut near gondy.  It can be hectic with lots of chaotic skiers around the river run/gondola base area.  Once you get up on the mtn stay away from it unless you know it’s a light day.  There is good black diamond terrain at Keystone:  several good bump runs on north peak and backside of Dercum.  They are pretty long and served by hsq.  They get soft and friendly in warm temps.  There are some really pretty black diamond glades in The Outback area, for example Timberwolf.  The Outpost Restaurant on top of North Peak is a nice place to eat with a remote feeling, esp if weather is nice and you can sit outside.  Great views from summit of Dercum restaurant too.  Long green Schoolmarm trail is super scenic.  If you catch it in low traffic it’s one of the best green circle runs in the US IMHO.  I never caught the cheap a la carte snowcat that goes up from the Outback summit, but I hiked-up there once and it’s fun single black diamond side-country experience.  Also, if they have the snow there is extreme gladed terrain with big cliffs crossing under the second gondola with maybe 800’ of vertical in those glades.  Do you know about the $189 four packs of tickets good at Key and A-Basin available to buy online until ~Nov20?

Looking up Timberwolf glade in the Outback, had the whole thing to myself:

Dude, you could have booked the Blue Knob Gathering for those dates instead.  We'll be taunting you from Extrovert and Rt 66 in PA while you're slumming it up in lowly Colorado :-P

crgildart wrote:

Dude, you could have booked the Blue Knob Gathering for those dates instead.  We'll be taunting you from Extrovert and Rt 66 in PA while you're slumming it up in lowly Colorado :-P

I hope to join you guys for that this year in between slumming it in Utah.

Great Stuff JimK.  We appear to be a little far from a shuttle stop which is causing some debate.  We have a large group and housing options were limited.  It looks like rental vehicles are in order.  SUVs are not cheap.

Does anyone know if there is adequate "taxi" transportation.  Ideally, I'd like to take a shuttle RT from the airport and not have to worry about any driving.   The group is thinking about 3 of these 5 Love / Breck / Copper / A Basin / Key one per day.

I'll be looking for the 189 tix.

Send pics from the Knob!  I go once a year and take advantage of free lodging.  My sister lives in Altoona.

Blue Don 1982 wrote:

 

I'll be looking for the 189 tix.

 

LINK : 

http://www.snow.com/epic-pass/passes/keystone-four-pack.aspx

PS:  when the Colonel came to visit me in Summit County last March he rented a car from Enterprise in Silverthorne.  I wonder if you could do that once you shuttled up from airport and saw the lay of the land?  Enterprise is within walking distance of a Summit Stage stop.

Blue Don 1982 wrote:

 Ideally, I'd like to take a shuttle RT from the airport and not have to worry about any driving.   The group is thinking about 3 of these 5 Love / Breck / Copper / A Basin / Key one per day.

 

Good luck at Keystone. There's a good chance I'll see you. Keystone is my home mouintain for most of the season. JimK gave you good advice.

Yes, there's plenty of shuttle service from DIA to Summit County:

https://www.summitexpress.com/scheduled-shuttle-service/breckenridge-airport-shuttle/?gclid=CjwKEAiA64uyBRCVmKyT2vuAjzgSJADfINB6rq0t3EQsKKu1aBP0S8PUwboiig98YLjUbCTXF5UZlBoCIIDw_wcB

http://www.mountainshuttle.com/

http://www.coloradomountainexpress.com/keystone-mountain

http://www.freshtrackstransportation.com/denverintlairport-to-keystone

Single day lift tickets at Keystone and Breck are about $115,  so the 4 pack Jim mentioned is a good way to go -- at least for A-Basin and Keystone. 4 packs have to be bought by 11/22. The Basin is the prettiest place to ski as it sits on the continental divide. It also has some pretty outrageous terrain off of the Palavacini lift, or if you are really adventurous you can hike the east wall and ski some rocky chutes. Bear in mind you'd be hiking UP to 13,000 feet. Since most of the hill is above tree line, it's pretty challenging when light conditions are bad.

Free bus transportation is good. From Keystone, you can catch the Swan Mountain Flyer for 7 mile ride east to the Basin, and the same bus going west to Breckenridge. If I recall, it's hourly service both ways. You can get to Copper via bus but it requires a transfer at either the Silverthorne or Frisco transit centers. There is no bus service to Loveland,

There is taxi service in town, but I've never used it so I have no idea how reliable it is. Uber / Lyft? -- I dunno.

I have hundreds of days in at Keystone, and a lesser number at the other hills you are considering, if you want opinions, just let me know. 

I skied Keystone opening day last Friday.

One more thing. I'd suggest calling Keystone  group sales to see what kind of deal they'd give you for three day passes for Keystone, Breck, and the Basin for your group. I'd imagine they'd give some type of deal for 48 skier days. 

Oh, JimK and I skied Keystone last year. That's me in the orange and blue jacket in Jimk's second photo. We were at the top of Diamondback on the backside of Dertcum mountain,.

Since you are staying at Keystone Ranch subdivision anyway, you might want to try the pricey restaurant. It's pretty good, but you'll drop $100/ person for dinner.

http://www.opentable.com/keystone-ranch-restaurant